James Lockhart

WASHINGTON: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-chartered mortgage companies, may raise as much as $20 billion in capital as part of an agreement that allows them to buy more debt securities, its regulator said. "That's the top end of the range," James Lockhart, director of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, said in an interview in Washington yesterday. While "there's no specific number" that was agreed upon, the companies and Ofheo discussed ballpark figures,...

NEW YORK: Fannie Mae, the largest provider of US residential mortgage funding, on Monday named Michael Williams, an 18-year veteran of the government-controlled company, as president and chief executive officer. Williams, most recently the company's chief operating officer and previously with KPMG Peat Marwick and DuPont Company, succeeds Herbert Allison. Allison has been nominated as assistant secretary for financial stability and counselor to the secretary at the Treasury...

WASHINGTON: The federal government has named chairmen to oversee beleaguered mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which were seized earlier this month. The Federal Housing Finance Agency said Tuesday it named John Koskinen as Freddie Mac's non-executive chairman. Koskinen, a corporate restructuring expert, spent two years directing planning for the "Year 2000" computer conversion, and also worked as the District of Columbia's chief administrator.

SYDNEY: Investors may be forced to unwind contracts protecting $1.47 trillion of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bonds against default after the US government seized control of the companies in a bid to bolster the housing market. Thirteen 'major' dealers of credit-default swaps agreed 'unanimously' that the rescue constitutes a credit event triggering payment or delivery of the companies' bonds, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association said. Market makers will discuss...

WASHINGTON: Mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac plan to pay more than $210 million in bonuses through next year to give workers the incentive to stay in their jobs at the government-controlled companies. The retention awards for more than 7,600 employees were disclosed in a letter from the companies' regulator released Friday by Sen. Charles Grassley, the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee. The companies paid out nearly $51 million last year, are...

WASHINGTON: The federal government has named chairmen to oversee beleaguered mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which were seized earlier this month. The Federal Housing Finance Agency said Tuesday it named John Koskinen as Freddie Mac's non-executive chairman. Koskinen, a corporate restructuring expert, spent two years directing planning for the "Year 2000" computer conversion, and also worked as the District of Columbia's chief administrator.

WASHINGTON: A top House Democrat confirmed Saturday that the government is planning to intervene to stabilize troubled mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said in a statement that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson "intends to use the powers that Congress provided it" in a law passed in July to enable Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to keep functioning. But Frank,...

NEW YORK: Fannie Mae, the largest provider of US residential mortgage funding, on Monday named Michael Williams, an 18-year veteran of the government-controlled company, as president and chief executive officer. Williams, most recently the company's chief operating officer and previously with KPMG Peat Marwick and DuPont Company, succeeds Herbert Allison. Allison has been nominated as assistant secretary for financial stability and counselor to the secretary at the Treasury...

WASHINGTON: The regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Wednesday eased capital requirements for the two firms to provide up to $200 billion in immediate liquidity for stressed mortgage markets. The regulator, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, will lower to 20% from 30% the amount of extra capital the companies were required to hold after accounting irregularities at both firms, and will consider further reductions. The companies will begin to raise significant capital,...

WASHINGTON: The two men tapped to lead Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac through a period of unprecedented difficulty bring a wealth of experience and reputations of integrity _ and they'll need both, financial experts said. Herbert Allison was named the new chief executive of Fannie Mae and David Moffett the new CEO of Freddie Mac on Sunday as part of the Treasury Department's takeover of the two huge mortgage financing agencies. The two companies own or guarantee about $5...

WASHINGTON: Mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac plan to pay more than $210 million in bonuses through next year to give workers the incentive to stay in their jobs at the government-controlled companies. The retention awards for more than 7,600 employees were disclosed in a letter from the companies' regulator released Friday by Sen. Charles Grassley, the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee. The companies paid out nearly $51 million last...

WASHINGTON: Republican White House hopeful John McCain slammed the federal rescue of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as "outrageous" but necessary, as Democrat Barack Obama Tuesday expressed disquiet over hefty severance deals for the firms' ousted chiefs. "The bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is another outrageous, but sadly necessary, step for these two institutions," McCain and his running mate Sarah Palin wrote in an opinion piece in The Wall...

WASHINGTON: The two men tapped to lead Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac through a period of unprecedented difficulty bring a wealth of experience and reputations of integrity _ and they'll need both, financial experts said. Herbert Allison was named the new chief executive of Fannie Mae and David Moffett the new CEO of Freddie Mac on Sunday as part of the Treasury Department's takeover of the two huge mortgage financing agencies. The two companies own or guarantee about $5...

SYDNEY: Investors may be forced to unwind contracts protecting $1.47 trillion of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bonds against default after the US government seized control of the companies in a bid to bolster the housing market. Thirteen 'major' dealers of credit-default swaps agreed 'unanimously' that the rescue constitutes a credit event triggering payment or delivery of the companies' bonds, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association said. Market makers will discuss...

WASHINGTON: A top House Democrat confirmed Saturday that the government is planning to intervene to stabilize troubled mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said in a statement that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson "intends to use the powers that Congress provided it" in a law passed in July to enable Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to keep functioning. ...

WASHINGTON: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-chartered mortgage companies, may raise as much as $20 billion in capital as part of an agreement that allows them to buy more debt securities, its regulator said. "That's the top end of the range," James Lockhart, director of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, said in an interview in Washington yesterday. While "there's no specific number" that was agreed upon, the companies and Ofheo discussed ballpark...

WASHINGTON: Republican White House hopeful John McCain slammed the federal rescue of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as "outrageous" but necessary, as Democrat Barack Obama Tuesday expressed disquiet over hefty severance deals for the firms' ousted chiefs. "The bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is another outrageous, but sadly necessary, step for these two institutions," McCain and his running mate Sarah Palin wrote in an opinion piece in The Wall...

WASHINGTON: The regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Wednesday eased capital requirements for the two firms to provide up to $200 billion in immediate liquidity for stressed mortgage markets. The regulator, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, will lower to 20% from 30% the amount of extra capital the companies were required to hold after accounting irregularities at both firms, and will consider further reductions. The companies will begin to raise significant capital, OFHEO...